Acoelomorpha

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Acoelomorpha

The Acoelomorpha are a phylum

Phylum

A phylum "Phylum" is adopted from the Greek phylai, the clan-based voting groups in Greek city-states. is a taxonomic rank below Kingdom and above Class ....
of animals with planula-like

Planula

A planula is the free-swimming, flattened, cilium, symmetry #Bilateral symmetry larva of various cnidarian species. In all cases, the planula forms directly from the fertilized egg of a medusa, as the case in scyphozoans and some hydrozoans, or from a polyp, as in the case of anthozoans....
features and formerly considered to be in Platyhelmintha

Flatworm

The flatworms, known in scientific literature as Platyhelminthes are a Phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, Segmentation , soft-bodied invertebrate animals....
, but recently classified by Jaume Baguñà and Marta Riutort as a separate phylum, basal

Basal (phylogenetics)

In phylogenetics, a basal clade is the earliest clade to branch in a larger clade; it appears at the base of a cladogram.A basal group form an outgroup to the rest of the clade, such as in the following example:...
among the Bilateria

Bilateria

The Bilateria are all animals having a symmetry #Bilateral symmetry, i.e. they have a front and a back end, as well as an upside and downside....
. The Acoela are very small flatworm

Flatworm

The flatworms, known in scientific literature as Platyhelminthes are a Phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, Segmentation , soft-bodied invertebrate animals....
s that do not have a gut. Digestion is accomplished by means of a syncytium

Syncytium

In biology, a syncytium is a large cell-like structure filled with cytoplasm containing many cell nucleus....
that forms a vacuole

Vacuole

A vacuole is a membrane organelle which is present in all eukaryotic cells. Vacuoles are essentially enclosed compartments which are filled with fluid such as water or various enzymes, though in certain cases they may contain solids which have been engulfed....
around ingested food. There are no epithelial

Epithelium

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Encyclopedia

The Acoelomorpha are a phylum

Phylum

A phylum "Phylum" is adopted from the Greek phylai, the clan-based voting groups in Greek city-states. is a taxonomic rank below Kingdom and above Class ....
of animals with planula-like

Planula

Flatworm

Basal (phylogenetics)

Bilateria

The Bilateria are all animals having a symmetry #Bilateral symmetry, i.e. they have a front and a back end, as well as an upside and downside....
. The Acoela are very small flatworm

Flatworm

The flatworms, known in scientific literature as Platyhelminthes are a Phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, Segmentation , soft-bodied invertebrate animals....
s that do not have a gut. Digestion is accomplished by means of a syncytium

Syncytium

In biology, a syncytium is a large cell-like structure filled with cytoplasm containing many cell nucleus....
that forms a vacuole

Vacuole

Epithelium

In biology and medicine, epithelium is a Biological tissue composed of cell s that line the cavities and surfaces of structures throughout the body....
cells lining the digestive vacuole. All other bilateral animals have a gut lined with epithelial cells. As a result, the acoels appear to be solid-bodied (a-coel, or no body cavity). Acoels are almost entirely marine

Marine (ocean)

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology....
, living between grains of sediment

Sediment

Sediment is any particulate matter that can be sediment transport by fluid dynamics, and which eventually is deposited.Sediments are most often transported by water transported by wind and glaciers....
, swimming as plankton

Plankton

Plankton consist of any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. Plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than their Phylogenetics or taxonomy classification....
, or crawling on algae

Algae

Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms. The largest and most complex marine forms are called seaweeds....
. Acoels have a statocyst

Statocyst

The statocyst is a Equilibrioception present in some aquatic invertebrates . It consists of a sac-like structure containing a mineralised mass and numerous innervated sensory hairs ....
, which presumably helps them orient to gravity.

Acoelomorpha

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